The Terpsichore Fall Dance Concert—the once-a-semester dance event that shows off student work regardless of formal dance backgrounds—took place this past weekend in the World Music Hall. It featured a range of student performances, from neon-clad “Sexersize,” to the many-layered “My Body is a Cage,” to an incredibly novel piece that relied heavily on flashlights to illuminate the dancers.

The show opened with a sassy tap number to the Lil’ Mama song “Lip Gloss,” by Renee Dunn ’14 and Emily Weitzman ’14. The tapping was loud, the time steps were fast, and it made for a strong start to the show.

“Lip Gloss” was followed by “syn-tHetic whiM,” a very interesting piece by Alan Rodi ’12. The piece was notable for two reasons: firstly, Rodi had no prior dance experience when he decided to choreograph for Terp, and second, he is a music major who composed his own music. The process of how this dance came together was unusual as well—the dancers had a very large part in determining their movements and did a lot of improvisational work during the course of learning the dance.

“It has been a chance to work with others of different background to create a piece of art outside of my comfort zone,” Rodi said.

Following “syn-tHetic whiM” was “Block After Block” choreographed by Sara Bonilla ’12, an upbeat number that made use of many intricate movements to create a deceivingly simple and cheerful piece.

“Sexercise” was the next dance, choreographed by Rebecca Baskin ’12 and Taylor Sander ’12;  it made for goofy, good entertainment. The dance was set to “Call On Me” by Eric Prydz and based on his ridiculous music video, which featured scantily-clad women and men doing an “exercise” routine. This dance included leg warmers, a football, and a whole lot of neon tights.

After that, there was “My Body is a Cage” choreographed by Ruby Barry ’13, a dance that had many layers—of dance moves, timing, and of bodies.  I myself was a dancer in this dance, which makes my opinion completely unbiased of course, but I think I can safely say that these dancers certainly proved that their bodies are not cages.

This was followed by “Where Does the Good Go,” by Gyrate, a small dance group including Francesca Buzzi ’12, Nik Owens ’12, and Emily Lippe ’12, who performed a beautiful dance with large sweeping movements and an emotionally-charged tenor.

Senior Naakai Addy’s piece, “Horse and I,” was next. It was definitely the most ballet-influenced dance in the show this fall, but it still included many free form movements that lent a dramatic air.

“Ataxia” by Ally Axelrad ’14, which also incorporated a significant amount of ballet technique, came afterwards. Some of the really interesting parts of this dance were the lifts and dancers physically taking each other’s weight.

The next piece was represented on the program by a stick figure drawing rather than a title, hinting at the unconventional nature of the piece. The dance, led by Rob Kipp ’12 and Tresne Hernandez ’12,  included a portion by flashlight and another section choreographed to “You and I” by Ingrid Michaelson. A combination of red lights, demon-like figures, and unexpected transitions combined to form an amazing and incredibly innovative piece.

Then came the finale: Terp Core, the dance concert that coordinates and facilitates the choreographers of Terpsichore, performed their dance, “Sophisticated Sass,” choreographed by Owens. Although it was still a bit rough during the dress rehearsal, this dance really came together for the performances to show off what the Terp Core is all about: just read the title.

All in all, the Terpsichore Fall Dance Show was a performance to remember. More importantly, however, Terp achieved its goal of involving as many students as possible.

“We do it so that we can get as many people on stage as we can who maybe haven’t had the opportunity to do so,” said Buzzi.

Sarah Schorr ’12, who has been in the Terp show four times, emphasized this point.

“I really like that it’s just open to anyone, and anyone can choreograph,” she said. “It’s not super serious, but it’s still really fun and really easy to get involved in.”